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Svi Mykhailiuk joins 1,000-point club as more than just a shooter

Posted by Tom Keegan

February 6, 2018 at 11 a.m.

Kansas guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (10) puts the ball off the glass during the first half, Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018 at Allen Fieldhouse.
by Nick Krug

Individual milestones go unnoticed in losses, which is why most probably aren't even aware that midway through the second half of Saturday's upset loss to Oklahoma State senior Svi Mykhailiuk became the 13th player to score 1,000 points for Bill Self at Kansas.

Fittingly, Svi joined the 1,000-point club on a 3-pointer. He has scored 609 of his 1,003 points from beyond the arc, 314 points on 2-point field goals and 80 from the free-throw line.

Although Svi's long-range shot remains his greatest strength, he has expanded more than his scoring average (9.8 as a junior, 17.0 as a senior) this season. He's driving far more often and dunking regularly, including twice Saturday.

As a junior, just 37 percent of his field-goal attempts were inside the arc, a figure that his risen to 45 percent this season.

"I’m trying to be aggressive all the time, drive the ball more because everybody’s expecting me to shoot, closing out really hard on me all the time, so I figure out other ways to score,” Mykhailiuk said.

One of those ways is finishing lobs, usually delivered by Devonte' Graham.

"Sometimes I think if they see Lagerald (Vick) in he corner they expect a lob," Svi said. "If they see me they don't really expect that, so we just kind of change it up sometimes."

Bill Self, in his 15th season as Kansas head coach, has coached 15 of the 60 members of KU's 1,000-point club, but just 13 of them scored 1,000 points for Self. Keith Langford (1,812 points) and Aaron Miles (1,183 points) each played two seasons for Self and two for Roy Williams, scoring at roughly the same rate for both coaches. Wayne Simien logged more minutes and scored more points for Self than for Williams.